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Author: Susan Viebrock

[Click "Play" to hear Steve Swenson speaking to Susan about Telluride Wine Festival]

IMGP0454 Telluride Wine Festival: Yes, like looks, names can be deceiving, especially the names of entries on Telluride's summer cultural calendar. Festival names are clues as to what might be going on, but they definitely do not describe the whole ball of wax. For example, Mountainfilm in Telluride is not just about mountain living and adventure or films. The event leans heavily towards environmental and socio-political issues. The line-up for 2010 Telluride Bluegrass included the Drepung Monks, Leftover Salmon and Edward Sharpe. And for the past two years, the Telluride Wine Festival, June 24 – June 27, has beer, spirits, and music on its agenda.

21 June, 2010 /
[click "Play", James Vilona speaks about how he came to his art]

IMG_6131 Who'd a-thunk it? Telluride Inside... and Out and Donald Trump have something in common: we both own work by sculptor James Vilona. Only we don't own as much as The Donald, a major collector. (Two of Vilona's metal tables are on display in Trump Towers in New York and Chicago.)

James Vilona is in town over the Telluride Wine Festival weekend, June 24 – June 27, where he is the featured artist at Dolce Jewels, 226 West Colorado.
21 June, 2010 /

Telluride Bluegrass Festival may be over, but the beat goes on at Telluride's five-star Wilkinson Public Library. Monday, June 21, 6 p.m. Back for an encore performance, Raina Rose. This young vivacious songwriter from Austin will be performing original songs that speak to life, love and the human condition. 

Tuesday, June 22, 6 p.m.,The Telluride Music Lover’s Film Festival brings a feature and a short. Rachel Liebling, a student of Ken Burns, created a classic of Americana: “High Lonesome”  the Story of Bluegrass  (95 minutes). The music is perfectly synced with its images as in Bill Monroe's seamless walk from concert stage to his old front porch. Ralph Stanley singing "Man of Constant Sorrow". A young Alison Krauss at about the time she won the national fiddling contest. The film is not a complete compendium, a chronological survey, or a definitive look at Bill Monroe, or any of the individual artists, but it is an impassioned portrait of a true American musical art form.

21 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Peter Rowan's conversation with Susan]

Prowan This iconic performer is about to join the ranks of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's 30-something club, an elite fraternity that includes among its members The King, Sam Bush, dobro king Jerry Douglas, and Grammy winner Tim O' Brien. He is Telluride Bluegrass veteran Peter Rowan.

Peter Rowan performs at the 37th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival Friday, June 18, 2:30 p.m., in Peter Rowan and Crucial Country with Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas. The event marks a reunion of musical titans.
18 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to listen to Tim O'Brien's conversation with Susan]

Tim O'Brien 2010 Telluride is on a first-name basis Tim O'Brien. He's been here for so many Telluride Bluegrass Festivals, so many nights at the Sheridan Opera House as well. We all know by now, Tim O'Brien is an entire rhythm section unto himself. And a bandleader, songwriter, vocalist and mentor to boot. We know Tim's sound by heart, a hybrid of country, folk, bluegrass and swing often described simply as "Americana." Music with a comfortable, comforting old slipper feel. But with Tim as the filter, everything old comes out new again.

It's no big secret Telluride's on again, he's off again 30-year relationship with Tim is not exclusive: the Grammy (Traditional Folk Category) Tim won in 2005, not to mention countless nods from organizations such as the International Bluegrass Music Awards, is proof, positive his peers and the rest of the world love him too.
17 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Bryan Simpson talk about Cadillac Sky]

Cadillac Sky 2010 Promotional Photo Listen: Cadillac Sky comes straight from red dirt country to the Main Stage of the 37th annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival, on a high from the heat their brand spanking new CD, "Letters in the Deep," is generating.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival's marketing guru Brian Eyster described "Letters in the Deep" as "one of the coolest bluegrass albums of the year."  He raves about Cadillac Sky's great songs, virtuosic picking (the band includes national champions on fiddle and banjo), and no-holds-barred delivery. Their stage setup includes lots of effect pedals (for distortion and other tricks of the trade), as well as a small drum kit one band member or another might sit at "when the energy needs to go to 11."
17 June, 2010 /
[click "Play" to hear Kara Johnson's description of One-to-One mentoring]

Logo, 1-1The One to One program in the Telluride region can relate: Mountainfilm in Telluride recently announced its award-winners. The Director's Award was given to "Sons of Perdition," a film about teenage boys forced out of a polygamist fundamentalist Mormon community because they represented a threat to the older men's claims on the young woman of their tribe. Three of the boys were in town, basking in the love that came their way. Their indomitable spirits shown through the hurt and pain. But they will need mentors to guide their next critical moves.

Research has shown that the single most important factor in a child's success is his or her connection to a caring adult. One to One San Miguel Mentoring Program targets at risk youth in Telluride, Mountain Village, Norwood, Naturita, and Nucla, pairing them with mentors who help guide their social, emotional and academic development.
16 June, 2010 /

Telluride Bluegrass Festivarians should see some familiar faces in the grounds this year –  and not just on stage. Telluride-based The New Community Coalition once again has a booth in the "Green Zone," sharing space with the Drepung Monks. Visitors can...

16 June, 2010 /

Telluride local Jared David Paul is known for a variety of artistic explorations. His "Back of Beyond" is currently on display in the Daniel Tucker Gallery at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts.Jared David Paul was trained in traditional Chinese painting in...

16 June, 2010 /